Sourdough Crackers

Sourdough Crackers

I know that most of us, that culture wild yeast, seldom actually "discard" the discards of our sourdough. Of course, it is not unusual to hear someone new to keeping a sourdough culture remarking that they hate to have to through out the discards. And again, of course, a dozen replies of "No! Make pancakes..." or "Oh, no! Make waffles... ". Well, from now on, I will be crying "No! Make sourdough crackers.. The older the discards, the better the crackers!"

Naturally, that does assume you like sour sourdough, but the crackers are great even with "un-sour" sourdough discards, Rye Sour, etc. or even non-discarded levain as the leavening ingredient.

So, here is a step by step, complete with photos, Baker's percentages, some suggestions, and pointers on the ingredients and process. Even if you are not of an experimental curiosity by nature, I suspect you will have some ideas for variations you would like to try.

A small amount Sesame Oil, or Olive Oil to brush the top of the crackers and Kosher salt to sprinkle over the oiled surface will also be needed.

Substitutions of butter or lard can be made for the coconut oil, but I prefer the coconut oil, either the Extra Virgin, or the Expeller types.

Notice that I chose the ingredient amounts to exactly match the Baker's percentages. This batch size works very well for one sheet of crackers per Silpat baking sheet and a 100 grams of discards is an equally reasonable size. If you wish, make multiples of this amount and store in the fridge until you want more crackers.

I do want to mention some considerations to keep in mind when using coconut oil. Using the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is my first choice, Expeller Coconut Oil is my second and neither one requires special consideration in a warmer kitchen, but if the kitchen temperature, or the dough temperature, is below about 78ºF ( 25.5º C) then you should either use methods to maintain the temperature of all ingredients about 78ºF ( 25.5º C) during the mixing phase, or use softened butter. Coconut oil is liquid from about the 75ºF ( 23.9º C) and above. Adding it in a mix of cold, fresh out of the fridge, levain may very well cause lumpy, difficult dough conditions. Once the full mixing is complete, this is no longer of any potential problem.

Let your finished crackers cool before placing (if any are uneaten) in an airtight container to preserve their crispness.

Daisy, those described here come close to a "Wheat Thin" to my taste senses. It is such an easy process that all kinds of fun experiments come to mind. It even might make a reasonable first sample method for testing new flour, or seed types.

I baked those in the photos yesterday morning, and I was too intent on the photos to pay the attention I should have to the rolling out of the dough. But, I think that worked out better, as I was able to show what the lack of uniformity results in.

Even so, this morning, I ate the last of them. So, perhaps I'll bake a batch tomorrow, again. I have another 171g jar of dough in the fridge.

... for making me want to make crackers again. You pulled me in wth the step by step. I used to make crackers regularly, but I would invest loads of time and effort only to see them devoured by the end of the day (mostly by me, I'll admit). This looks pretty simple and has sourdough, perfect!

A pasta machine works great for getting uniform thickness, if you happen to have one, but also becomes part of the hassle. I think I'll go back to working on my roller skills when I try these.

OK, so I didn't have the actual formula in front of me, but I followed the spirit of it. A lump of very ripe WW sourdough, enough extra flour to make it not sticky, a little olive oil and salt, and bingo! Crackers. Or rather, one big cracker, because I forgot to cut it up before it went into the oven. I already had something in the oven so I slid these in with it and kept a sharp eye on them. Worked like a charm! Light, crispy, and surprisingly flavorful considering how little went into them. Thanks again for the inspiration.

I am very glad you had such a pleasing result. I made a batch, and as I let go of the tray on the oven stones I realized I had forgotten the salt. I made a fast recovery - fast enough that the tray hadn't even got burning hot yet, so all ended well here, also... LOL

Hello,Ron, thanks so much for this detailed post, and Daisy_A, thanks for the idea of a spice topping!I made crackers recently using a buttermilk dough (Nancy Silverton - Pastries from La Brea Bakery), topped with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and seeds (chia, golden flax, white poppy, sesame).Your sourdough and spice crackers sound wonderful. My husband is encouraging me daily to make crackers again :^) - I must try making yours!Thanks, from breadsong

Hello Ron, Had to try making these crackers of yours. The cracker dough mixed up really nicely with your formula!I topped the crackers with sesame oil as you suggested, a light dusting of spice (salt, pepper, chili, a tiny bit of ginger & the teensiest pinch of sugar), & sesame seeds. Here's a couple of pictures, before and after baking:

The crackers are crisp & wheaty & I love the texture, and how they maintained their shape and remained flat during baking. Thanks so much for this post!from breadsong

I made your crackers today :) That was a huge hit! I don't have to buy crackers anymore. I used my raisin yeast levain for this crackers, so they are not sour at all but nicely sweet. Very crispy!! YUM! However, I better modify my oven because they are not evenly baked well. My oven is not so reliable.

This is the left over for tomorrow :) My daughter who is a picky eater really likes them.

Akiko, they do look good. One thing you could try, if uneven heat is the problem - and not uneven thickness of the dough - is to preheat to a higher temperature before putting the crackers into the oven, but to drop the heat 275ºF ( 135º C) or 300ºF ( 149º C) as soon as you put the crackers into the oven. That way any unevenness resulting from the heating elements themselves, rather than drafts, is greatly reduced. Of course, you then have to visually determine when the crackers are finished.

I also made stick crackers the other day - Actually, I got the idea from something you mentioned in an earlier post. I thought mine came out great, too. I rolled out the dough, initially, the same as if for crackers, then added ground pepper, and sesame seeds and folded the top third down to center and followed with the bottom third up to cover the folded-down top half. I then cut the long dimension into thirds and stacked the 3, thirds on each other with some other spices rubbed in between the pieces. I then rolled the pile into the final sheet and sliced into sticks, oiled and salted, then baked. Yum...

Akiko, they just do not last long enough. Last week, I made a 350g batch of them, and used txfarmers cheddar addition. I split the dough into two, 175g batches for the rolling out and made strips from one batch and crackers from the other. Now, I need to make more... LOL

I made " POCKY" today, but they gone so quickly ...I could only take a picture of one of them. I proofed the sticks for 40 minutes because I had to help my husband to take care of our chickens LOL They are not slim like the real pockies, however, they really stay crispy. Next time, I will come here to post slim pockies! I have to make another big portion of levain with raisin yeast water. :)

I have some guestion about the production of sourdough crackers. i want to produce it in industry,and i want to know that should it be provide Separately and then to be added to other ingredients?

could you please tell me about the amount of ingredients of sourdough and also the other stuff producing cracker? would you let me to know how much time is need to fermenteation in room temperature?7 to 8 hours is proper for it?is it necessary to be added flour and water at the same level during a week?

The 50 grams of "sourdough flour" and 50 grams of "sourdough water" are simply another way of saying "use 100 grams of 100% HL Sourdough starter".

So, if your starter is maintained by feeding it equal amounts (by weight) of flour and water, then you have 100% HL (hydration level) starter. In this case, you would then mix the 100 gm. of SD starter to an additional 50 gm. of Whole Wheat Flour, 20 gm. of Coconut oil and 0.9 gm. of Fine Sea Salt.

Then, do a good job of completely mixing these ingredients and then let the total batch rise overnight.

I hope that explaination will permit you to understand the article's details now.

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